Cleaner Production and the Water Cycle

The short course on Cleaner Production and the Water Cycle introduces the concept of Cleaner Production in the context of the water cycle in general and water management in particular. The course focuses on the careful use of the resource water and brings in various tools that can aid in saving water.

Upon completion of the course, the participants will be able to answer:

• what steps can be taken to conserve water in the domestic context?;
• how can the benefit to the environment be determined when substituting one process or process component by another?;
• how can a systematic environmental management approach contribute to better environmental management in an industry, meaning less resources and/or less water wasted?;
• how can environmental considerations in the design stage contribute to better environmental performance in the use phase?;
• how can minimizing the generation of waste contribute to better water quality?;
• what needs to be done to make beneficial use of wastewater?

These and other topics will be discussed in the context of water for domestic, industrial and urban uses.

What is Cleaner Production, why is it needed, what are the benefits, and what does it mean in practice?

After this introduction, tools are discussed that can help in analysing and improving the environmental status, such as Life Cycle Analysis and Eco-design. The importance of proper environmental management is brought in and how these systems can be set up. ISO and ISO certification is mentioned.

Specific attention is devoted to industrial water management in which both the raw water, the in-process water and the water leaving a process or set of processes are looked at from the point of few of optimised usage.

The short course includes a fieldtrip to a site where Cleaner Production has been practiced on a water issue.

• Mark Goedkoop
  PreConsultants Amersfoort
• John Stans
  Tauw
• Richard Hill
  Whitewater UK
• Prof. Huub J. Gijzen, PhD
  UNESCO
• Maarten A. Siebel, PhD
  UNESCO-IHE

It is possible to take part in the examination of this short course. If you obtain a passing mark for this examination and return to UNESCO-IHE within four years after completion of the short course to follow a full MSc programme, you will receive exemption for this short course/module. The costs for this exam are €250 extra and should be borne by yourself. Taking part in the examination is not compulsory.